Continuing on with HFFL’s McFarlane coverage at New York Toy Fair 2012, we have pics of the toys on display out of the packaging.

Sadly we will not be seeing the full sized Banshee or Falcon come to light. I asked Mark Weber (Brand Manager for McFarlane) about these and he stated the Falcon would have been a cost of around $115 retail. Retailors weren’t picking it up to buy. A real shame too. It’s an AWESOME vehicle. I’d have bought one for sure. That Banshee is just plain SWEET! I hope that goes up for charity auction or the like. I’d at least like a chance to own it.

For higher res pics, please check out my flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23683004@N06/sets/72157629346652781/ 

McFarlane Toys booth was amazing. While this site is centered around Halo only, McFarlane did have some great stuff from their sports lines as well as Spawn.

I was fortunate enough to have a 45 minute talk with Mark Weber, Brand manager at McFarlane. We discussed not only the Micro Ops line, but also the action figure line as well. Even though he’s mostly a Sports guy with McFarlane, he still seemed knowledgeable with the Halo line as well. Unfortunately, Todd himself wasn’t there and wouldn’t be until the next day. By that time I was already on my way back home. Ah well, maybe next year.

Mark and I started to discuss the line and went over to the carded wall. As you can see by the following pics McFarlane has several sub lines within the main line of Halo.

Click on pics for larger versions

Here is the wall first:

To the furthest left is the micro ops line. To the immediate right of that is the Halo Anniversary line, series 2. This line will become Halo Universe. Next to that the Halo 4 line. Note that these were all mock-ups and only Cortana and Master Chief were shown due to the MicroSoft embargo on Halo 4 info being released. To the right of that is the Halo Universe line. and finally the last of the Reach specific series.

Below these on the shelves were the boxed sets. McFarlane really outdid themselves with these sets. There had been a different set-up to the boxed sets previously. However, one of which was combined to make the fuller Team Objective set. Note that the Halo 4 set in the lower left corner is a mock-up only. Noble team will NOT be in Halo 4. They were FPO (for placement only).
Top left we see the Spirit of Fire team. Three Spartan Mk V’s. Each with their own weapons and specific markings. You’ll see a better shot later of these uncarded.
In the center of the pic is the Invasion set and below that the Generator Defense set. I’m really liking the Invasion set since it comes with BOTH power cores (UNSC and Covenant).
To the right of those is the ever so sweet Team Objective set. This set has most of the regular objective pieces, with 3 flags, a capture plate, both the UNSC and Covenant bombs and several “Headhunter” skulls, not to mention a Res Spartan. Very cool set indeed.
To the bottom of that is the Noble Team set. If you didn’t get these carded before or want to display them as a team in nice packaging, this is the set for you.

Finally for the Packages shots we have (and sorry for the blurry pic, best one I had of these, unfortunately), two Halo figs (I don’t know which they are to be and McF wasn’t telling, LOL.
Next to that is a mockup of the Hunter. You’ll see the loose version later. I asked if this was the same as the previous Hunter. They weren’t sure.
To the right of that the AWESOME ODST drop pod. This is going to retail for around $40 and I have to say it looks to be worth every penny of it. In the loose pic you’ll see just how much detail there is in it. It has several moving parts and comes with either the Rookie or a “generic” ODST.
Lastly, the Halo 3 Co-op Multi-figure pack. Included are Master Chief, the Arbiter, an Elite Minor (Blue), and the Crimson Flight Elite. If I’m not mistaken the Crimson Elite is new as it hasn’t been done in that color. Hmm, I’ll get that set and have the MC and Arby be given as prizes here for a contest later.

Check back later today for the loose pics!

There are no less than 3 small scale lines of Halo Toys this year. McFarlane Toys Halo Micro Ops line is in a realistic style. Every piece in scale with one another. The difference between McFarlane’s and Jada Toys line is firstly price. I was not able to attend the Jada booth at Toy Fair as they were only allowing buyers in their booth. I do know they only had mockups. Anyway, McFarlane Toys was only too happy to give me a tour of their booth with a heavy concentration on their Halo lines. I spoke with Mark Weber Sports Project/Brand Manager with McFarlane for about 45 minutes.

During this discussion the topic of the other micro lines came up. I asked him his thoughts on this. To paraphrase he said that each line has an appeal to different people. With McFarlane’s line being realistic and affordable he believes it will be a huge success. I’m very inclined to agree with him, especially after seeing their product.

Hmm, so I guess you want to see those pics now???

Well, okay, because I love you.

As you can see by the detail, these are excellently sculpted. But then, we’d expect nothing less from McFarlane and they do hold up to the larger line.

I’m really excited for this line as I will now be able to create “forced perspective” dioramas. This is where you have larger scale objects in front and smaller scale objects in back therefore making a diorama look bigger and deeper than it actually is. Plus with the cost being very affordable it will be easy to amass a huge army!

Package shots are mostly mockups. So look for that product to change.

Look for these starting in Summer this year!

For larger pictures, please check out my flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23683004@N06/sets/72157629335596455/

I was first skeptical of this line, but after seeing it in person, they are cute and not like the vinyl or bobblehead figures so many companies make. With the price being around $3 for the small ones, I’ll get them. I didn’t get a price on the larger one (Carter).

These aren’t due out for awhile yet and it looks like they are BLIND packaging. So that’s one thing that does hinder the line. At least for me. I’m not a fan of blind packaging.

The small ones will be just a few inches high. They separate at the head and hips so you can mix and match them!

This special Halo Wars boxed set features three heroic Spartan-IIs: Jerome, Douglas, and Alice, collectively known as Red Team. This trio of super-soldiers fought alongside the crew of the Spirit of Fire, defending them from the dangers encountered on Shield 0459. Our Red Team 3-pack brings back the leader, Jerome-092, and completes the team with two never-before-released figures of Douglas-042 and Alice-130. Each includes some serious firepower to help them carry out their mission: Jerome comes with a Spartan Laser, Alice comes with dual SMGs, and Douglas comes with a Shotgun. One Spartan is a force to be reckoned with, but a coordinated team of them is virtually unstoppable. Go back to 2531, before the fall of Reach, and get the complete Red Team, all in one box! (text from Spawn.com)

Jerome-092

Douglas-042

Alice-130

Where to buy:
Barnes & Noble
Fred Meyer
Meijer
Target
Toys ‘R’ Us
Walgreens
Walmart

Thoughts from HaloFanForLife:
At first I thought the two non-squad leader spartans were the same figure. While in sculpt they are, it’s on the right shoulder pad where the difference is made. As you can see in the above composition photos, they each have their own distinctive shoulder emblem to further denote who they are. I’m glad to have Red team. Here’s hoping we’ll see at least one of them in Halo 4…